Singer-songwriter Kendall Elise will be playing a Sitting Room Session in Napier on August 17. Photo / Supplied
Kendall Elise is a flame-haired chanteuse.
An intriguing storyteller with a hint of yesteryear.
She entertains with trademark quirky touches and a versatile voice that will take you from sweet tears to belly laughs.
Her music speaks of dark humour and personal experiences, inspired by rhythm and blues, folk and country, and everything in between.
While she may have only stepped onto the music scene in 2017, for her, music has always been a constant.
"Music has been a massive part of my life from a very young age. I started out by singing every time I opened my mouth," the singer-songwriter says over the phone.
Her mum says she could sing before she could talk.
But the biggest catalyst was being gifted her late-father's guitar by her grandmother when she was 13 - an acoustic nylon-stringed Yamaha his mother had held onto for "safe keeping" after he passed away.
It became one of the only tangible things she had of his.
That, along with his records, and Neil Young songbook.
"No one in my family is particularly musical so it was pretty cool to find that I had inherited my father's passion for music, despite him passing away before I was born. Music was also a great solace from the many difficult experiences I had as a teen."
Now 31, Elise has been turning heads, and experiencing accolade after accolade ever since she released her debut EP I Didn't Stand a Chance in March 2017, of which the lead single Heart Full Of Dirt was a top-three finalist for the APRA Best Country Music Song award that year.
In May, she released her debut full-length album Red Earth, of which the song Slippery Creek was a finalist for the MLT songwriting awards.
Featuring instrumentation by John Segovia, Chris Kemp, Louis Jarlov and Robert Scott, each song on Red Earth is based on Elise's memories of growing up in Papakura.
Elise says it was a "relief" when the album was released - the culmination of years worth of songs and memories.
"The whole album writing process involved a lot of introspection and processing of traumatic experiences, so it comes from a place of healing and catharsis.
"The songs also hold a lot of relevance to issues that not only I faced growing up, but that continue to be common societal issues today such as poverty, housing insecurity, sexism, sexuality, mental health, and how colonialism has negatively impacted our country."
One song, Slippery Creek, delves into how her father and uncle both died in vehicle crashes before her and her cousin were born. Slippery Creek is the location of her uncle's death.
She describes her sound as "alternative country" - Americana, with a blend of country, blues and rock influences.
Elise has honed her live show alongside her band The Belgraves, of which her partner, Chris, is the drummer, opening for Gin Wigmore's national tour earlier this year, as well as supporting US-based roots-rock duo Larkin Poe in April.
Her Sitting Room Session Show in Napier is private but open to anyone who wishes to attend. Despite playing to larger audiences, Elise says she likes the "intimate" feel.
"I feel like it means that the people who are in attendance they really want to listen to the music instead of me playing in a bar with people who might not be there just for the music. So, it's quite nice to have an attentive audience because that can be rare."
Elise, who currently works outside of the music industry hopes one day to be able to do what she loves fulltime.
"That's the dream. Because it's definitely not easy."
As for now, she plans on finishing her national tour, before taking it to Europe next year.
"I will probably come back for some more writing and then some more recording and then start all over again. Just keep going."
Kendall Elise will be playing a Sitting Room Session in Napier on August 17.
The Kendall Elise show is a private show,. Anyone who wishes to attend by emailing the organiser at jamie@macphails.co.nz
Paunovic moved to Havelock North with her family from Croatia seven years ago.